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(N0 M06161.) a Sheets-Sheet 1. J. H; M. WALDORP.

APPARATUS FOR RECORDING SPEED OF TRAINS 0N EAILWAYBRIDG-ES. No. 279,292.Patented June 12,1883..

(No Model'.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. H. M. WALDORP. V V APPARATUS FORRECORDING s RRR OF TRAINS 0N RAILWAY BRIDGES.

No. 279,292. Patented June 12,1883.

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APPARATUS FOR RECORDING SPEED OI TRAINSQN RAILWAY BRIDGES. No. 279,292.Patented June 12,1883.

. Q UNITED STATES PATENT: OFFICE.

JAN H. M. WALDORF, OF NYM WEGEN, HOLLAND.

APPARATUS FOR RECORDING SPEED OF TRAINS 0N RAILWAY-BRIDGES.

SFEGIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 279,292, dated June 12,1883.

. Application filed April 10, 1882. (N0 model.) Patented in FranceFebruary 23, 1882, No, 147, 522; in Belgium February 24, 1882,

No. 57,154; in England March 1, 1882, No. 9510, and in Germany March 10,1882, No. 20, 401.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAN HERMAN lVIARIE-VVALDORP, a subject of the King of Holland, residing at Nymwegen, in theKingdom of Holland, have invented new and useful improvements inapparatus for checking and recording the speed of trains passing overrailwaybridges, gradients, and other parts of the permanent way, ofwhich the following is a specication.

The constantly-increasing weight of the loads carried by railway-trainshas latterly caused attention to be directed to the necessity oflimiting the speed of such trains when passing over ironrailway-bridges, in the interest of the security and the preservation ofsuch bridges, and in some countries regulations have already beenenacted in this direction, among others in the Kingdom of Holland, wherethe speed at which trains are allowed to pass over bridges is limited tothirty kilometers (about eighteen and a half miles) an hour.

Now, the object of this invention is to provide mechanism and apparatusfor registering this speed. Such mechanism, of which the registering orrecording apparatus constitutes an integral part, should, to be of anyreal value for the purpose for which it is intended, combine thefollowing properties: First, the mechanism should work automaticallywithout the intervention of the employ charged with taking off therecords, as the only duty of this employ should be to see to the regularworking of the mechanism and to prepare the instrument for receiving therecords," second, the apparatus for receiving and making the recordsshould be placed within the imme diate reach of the said employ, andshould by preference be placed in the office of thestatioil-superintendent, and it should be inclosed in such a manner thatno other person than he can touch it; third, the records shouldcomprisea series of trains passing during a space of timeof twenty-four hours,for eXample without it being necessary for the employ to touch theapparatus; fourth, the records should be such, if required, as toseparately indicate the speed of the trains at various parts of thebridge. None of the apparatuses at present in use fulfill these combinedconditions. They consequently give inexact results, and therefore cannotbe relied on. Some of the said ap paratuses indicate the speed (notablythe Bouleng system) by means of a needle moving over'a dial. Byobserving the space passed over by the needle the speed of the train iscalculated, while the needle has to be brought back to zero for the nexttrain. Others-such as those used on the Netherland Statesrailways-indicate the progress of the train over the bridge on a band orribbon of paper by means of a wheel coated with ink, in asimilar mannerto that by which the Morse apparatus transmits telegraphic symbols; andto cause the paper band to unroll, the employ, each time a train isexpected, has to put the apparatus in movement and to stop it when thetrain has passed. The speed is calculated by measuring on the band ofpaper the distance between the point where the wheel commenced to markat the entrance of the train, and the point at which the wheel ceased tomark when the train left the bridge.

The mechanism and apparatus hereinafter described are free from theobjections common to those employed until now.v

The improved mechanism and apparatus may be divided into two distinctparts, videlicet: first, the mechanism'or bridge apparatus on the bridgeitself, consisting of a certain number of contactpoints, whichcommunicate'the passage of the wheels of the train to; second, anapparatus placed in the inspectors office of the nearest station wherethe said contacts are recorded.

Figure]. represents in three views the bridge apparatus, and Fig. 2 aplan; Fig. 3, a side elevation, partly in section; and Fig.4, an endview of what I term the station apparatus.

In the bridge apparatus (which is somewhat similar to those which theNetherland States" railways have applied to several bridges) the saidcontact-points are applied either only at both ends of the bridge or atintermediate points, according to the length of the bridge.

This apparatus is represented in the views shown at Fig. 1 of theaccompanying drawings.

At a short distance above the rail, Fig. 1, is placed what may be termeda treadle, constructed of a piece of steel, a, on theend of a horizontalrod, Z). lVhen the rod Z) turns the arm or link 0 is moved upward,moving with it the bard, thereby placing the contact-plates c 0 incontact.

From the knobs f and f pass conductingwires termining at the station, ashereinafter described. By this means on the pressure of each wheel ofthe train on the treadle a: the horizontal rod 2) turns, the bar (7 israised, and the plate 0 is put in contact with the plate 0. A piece ofindia-rubber, 71, applied under the treadle, and the steel-wire spiralsprings g g" around the bar it, cause these two pieces to retake theirnormal position after each wheel has passed and established contactbetween the plates of copper c and e.

The station apparatus is constructed substantially as follows: .Iemploya clock-movement operated .by a spring and regulated by means of aFoucault fly-pinion (with movable wings) capable of causing a shaft tomake each of its revolutions in the same period of time. A cylinderfollows the rotation of the said shaft, and consequently accomplishesone rev 0- lution in the same time. On the said cylinder is marked thespace of time which the train occupies in passing.

An arrangement of mechanism constructed as hereinafter described isemployed to set the clock-movement going as soon as the train reachesthe bridge, and to stop it aiter the train has passed. An apparatusconstructed as here inafter described transmits to the cylinder thecontacts which have taken place on the bridge by the treadles during thepassage of the train over the bridge in such a manner that the distanceexisting between the two contacts .recorded, taken i n connection withthe speed o'frotation of the cylinder, will indicate the time the trainhas been on the bridge between the two treadles when these are placed atboth ends of the bridge. It will be evident that in this manner byestablishing several treadles the speed of the train over various partsof the bridge may be checked and registered.

I will now describe the station apparatus,-

rei'erring to Figs. 2, 3, and 4:, similar letters in the three figuresrepresenting similar parts.

The clock-movement is constructed of an arrangement ot' wheel'workcontained in a brass box, K K, and moved by a spring in the barrel T,which is wound up by means of the handle H. The movement of the clock isregu lated by 'the fly-pinion V. The number of seconds in which it isdesired that the shaft A shall make one revolution is regulated byweighting or lightening, as may be found desirable, the iiy-pinion. Theshaft A extends outside the box, and is provided atone of its ends witha pin, 1, which serves to communicate a rotating movement to thecylinder C (I, made of suitable sheet metal, and fixed on a horizontalshaft, 1) 1), working in two sup.-v ports, S S, and carrying at one ofits ends a small i'ork, 2, into which takes the pin 1? in such a mannerthat the shalt A in turning moves the shaft D l) with the cylinder.

Every morning, before the arrival of the first train, the cylinder iscovered with paper coated with white lead, blackened over apetroleum orparat'fine lamp, as hereinafter described.

The paper should be divided by appropriate lines into bandscorresponding with the'sccends of time required for one revolution ofthe cylinder.

The length oi the cylinder is regulated ac cording to the number oftrains to be rcgis tered on the same paper band, and will de' pend onthe speed with which the marking needle or hand, hereinafter described,passes over the cylinder.

To prepare the cylinder for registering, its shaft is taken from thesupport and the cylinder covered with paper, one end of which is coatedwith gum. It is placed in a wooden apparatus-such as that shown in Fig,5-in the supports of which the cylinder is turned, a petroleum orpara'l'ti ne lamp being placed underneath, so that'the paper becomescovered with lamp-black. As soon as the trains which are to beregistered have passed, the paper is out and removed from the cylinderand plunged in a bath of gum-lac and alcohol for the purpose of fixingthe records, Fig. (i. The paper is then suspended on the wooden crossbarof the bath to allow it-to drain and dry.

I will now describe the apparatus for start ing and stopping theclockunovcment.

\Vhcn a train comes on the bridge each wheel, as has been alreadydescribed, presses on the treadle and causes the two plates 0 and c tomake contact. These plates communicate by means of a conductingwire withan electromagnct consisting of two bobbins, E i l, on a core of softiron, over which is placed the ar' mature or anchor M. An electriccurrent will thus be set up, which, passing through the bobbins E E, andcommunicating with the soft-iron core, will attract the anchor orarmature M, the tail B 13 of which, as the armature turns on the axis aa, will thereby be raised. The tail I; B presses on the under side, ofone oi the arms of the lever 71 7: 7i 71, made oi the form shown in Fig.-t of the drawings, such lever turning on a small horizontal pivot, 11(I. The said lever-arm is provided with. a small sliding counter-weight,and with a catch. m, in'the form of a knife, and the end of the leverpresses on the side of the spring (i-,which is attached to thehorizontal shalt F F. The other arm of the lever terminates with astopbutton, i, which, in the position of the lever shown in thedrawings, presses an ebonite plate, I 1?, forming part of the verticalshaft of the flypinion 'V.

To the same support which carries the small arbor d d of the lever isfixed, near the point 11, the pivot of the small curved rod 7 I, theelbow of which presses under thehereinbcl'orcdescribed arm under thebend of the lever 71 71. The said lever, with its accessories, has forits object the starting and stopping of the clockwork. The parts beingin the position shown IIO in the drawings, and the spring in the barrelbeing wound up, the movement of the clockwork may be stopped by pressingthe button 2' against the ebonite plate of the fly. In all cases as soonas the anchor or armature M is attracted the tail B B thereof raises oneof the arms of the lever, which causes the part i to descend in such amanner that the fly becomes free and the wheel-work commences to move.The fall of the lever into its normal position by the breaking of thecurrent and the release of the anchor or armature is prevented by thepressure of the end of the lever-arm against the spring G.

The stoppage of the clock-work is produced in the following manner:After one revolution of the shaft A, the pin q, being on the wheel ofthis shaft, throws off the small curved rod or striker I, from which itfollows that the move- -ment of this latter raises one of the arms ofthe lever near the bend, detaches the other arm from the spring G, andpresses the knob t" against the ebonite plate. At the same time thecatch m, in the form of a knife, falls into the notch of a small wheel,m, fixed on the same shaft, A.

The records on the cylinder are produced as follows The shaft A, ashereinbefore described, communicates its rotary movement to the cylinderO 0, against which is placed the needle 0, constructed of a small plateof steel of a pointed form inclined toward the cylinder and attached toa smallvertical brass rod, w w, which, with the small pin t, forms ananchor or armature opposite the electro-magnet e c, (constructed of twobobbins having cores of soft iron and wound with wire,) attached to abrass carriage, f f, which moves on the conducting-shafts 1- 'r r 'r,fixed in the supports 0 O. The carriage canbe turned a quarter of arevolution on the shaft 1" r, in order to allow, when required, theremoval of the cylinder 0 C. At the same time that the current passesthrough the large bobbins E E it also passes through the small bobbins ee by the agency of the brass pieces N N, by means of which the anchor orarmature a t a, with the needle '0, is attached, and then set free bythe breaking of the current, thereby communicating a toand-fro movementto the needle '0. In addition to this to-and-fro movement, the needlehas also a forward movement, when the clock mechanism works, inconsequence of the carriage being on the one side drawn by means of acord, .29 w, and a spring (not shown) within a barrel, z, and on theother side it is retarded by the cord w x, wound on the shaft L by meansof the vertical pulley Y. When the clock-work goes, the cord x x iswound up, and the cord :0 is unwound. When the hand reaches the end ofthe cylinder and the records prevented by a catch. As the paper on thecylinder C C is divided into as many bands as there are seconds of timein one revolution, it will be evident that the rotation of the cylinderand the to-and-fro movement of the hand commence simultaneously. At thesame time the number of oscillations produced by the hand or needle onthe paper corresponds with the number of wheels which have passed thepoint of contact.

The operation of the apparatus isasfollows: The hereinbefore-describedcontact-plates 011 the bridge are connected by the conducting wires withthe battery and with the bobbins E E and e e, in the manner representedin the drawings. Supposing the parts to be in the position shown in thedrawings, the current from the battery is interrupted as many times bythe contact-plates of the first treadle as by those of the secondtreadle on the bridge. At each pressure of the first wheel on the firsttreadle placed at the commencement of the bridge the current by thecontact of the two contact-plates passes to No. 1 treadle, (not to No. 2treadle,) reaches the piece N, whence it passes through the bobbin ofthe small electro-magnet e c, then passes through those marked E E, andreturns by the piece N to the other pole of the battery. During thepassage of the current the cores of the bobbins E E and e c aremagnetized, and consequently the anchors or armatures M M, and u i a(the pin) are simultaneously attracted. The effect of the attraction ofthe first anchor or armature is that one of the arms of the lever israised, the flyV is set free, and the clockmovement commences to work.The cylinder 0 0 turns and the carriage f f is set in motion. Movingalong the shafts r a", the attraction of the anchor or armature u t 1/.causes the hand or needle to oscillate over the paper on the cylinder.The passage of. each wheel over the 'firsttreadle imparts an oscillatingmotion to the needle or hand. After the passage of the last wheel theneedle or hand passes along the cylinder until the first wheel reachesthe second treadle, when it again commences to oscillate. After thepassage of the last wheel over the second treadle the needle or handdrags until the shaft A (and consequently the cylinder also) hascompleted a revolution, at which moment the pin q reverses the small rodZ, which raises the arm of the lever placed above, and retains thefly-pinion by its pressure on the ebonite plate in such amanner that theclockwork is stopped. Atthe same time the lowering of the other armofthe lever causes the catch m in the form of a knife to fall into thenotch of the wheel and the end of the arm is released from the spring G.The hand or needle which, by its movement on the revolving cylinder willdescribe a helicoidal line, returns after one revolution of the cylinderto the same line, forming its point of departure, and is ready tocommence its operation for the next train.

It will be evident that in place of obtaining the measure of the recordsby means of bands on the paper, the same result may be (and is bypreference) obtained by measurement, the circum't'ercnce ot' thecylinder being known, and also the number of seconds occupied in arevolution.

.The cylinder should be constructed in such a manner that the number ofseconds required for one revolution should be equal to. afull number ofmillimeters, so that by measuring the length of the line marked inmillimeters, the number of seconds will be at once known.

The apparatus to be employed in the stationot'fice is inclosed in a casewith glass sides, which is locked by a key.

The handle of the drum. or barrel T should be extended so that the knobshould be outside the case, which will enable the attendant to wind upthe clock-work twice a day in order to insure a regular action of thespring in the barrel.

The barrel and spring maybe replaced by a weight, whereby a more regularaction of the clockwork would perhaps be obtained. Further, an opening(closed by a sliding or hinged lid) should be made in the upper side ofthe case above the cylinder, in order that the inspector may be able tomark by means of a hand or needle the number or letter of the trainwhich has passed, by which means all danger of removing the lamp-blackfrom the paper or of blurring or staining it will be avoided.

Although the invention has been described as applied to arailway-bridge, it is evident that it is equally applicable to gradientsand other parts of the permanent way.

Having now described the nature of my said invention and the manner ofperforming the same, what I claim is 1. The mechanism as described andas shown in Fig. 1, consisting of the combination of the parts a. b 0cl, the reacting-springs g y", con

tact-plates c c, and conducting-wires adapted to be located at both endsof a bridgc,and mak ing contact each time that the wheel of a trainpasses it,'and by its touching closing an electric current, into whichthe apparatus for controlling at the station-l1ouse is linked orconnected, and where the cont-acts are communicated and noted, allsubstantially as described.

:2. The described clock-work mechanism for giving to the axle aregularperiodical rotating motion, consisting of a wound incased spring, shaftA, pin 1, and fork o, these parts being combined and operating as setforth.

3. The cylinder (3, arranged to be removed, with its shaft D, from itssupports S S, and to be replaced therein for the purpose set forth, incombination with the fork a on said shaft, and with the pin 1 connectedto the shaft A of the clock mechanism, the combination being andoperating substantially as set forth.

TL. The combination, substantially as de scribed, :l'or setting theclock-work in motion as soon as the train comes on the bridge, and forarresting it after the train has passed by, consisting of thecontact-plates e c" and their described operating devices,conducting-wire, electro-magnet E E, armature-lever M B, lever 71,counter-weight catch on, notched plate on, spring G, button i, plate 1.,tly V, rod 7, and pin (1.

5. In combination, the rotating cylinder needle 0, rod a w, and pin f,:l'orming an armature, carriagef, shafts r r, and electro-magnet e e,substantially as and for the purposes set Forth.

6. The combination of the described meeh anism on the brit gc, havingco11tact'-points for communicating the fact of the passage of thecar-wheels, with the described apparatus in the station office, wherethe said contacts are recorded, consisting of the clock mechanism,substantially as described, and a markingcylinder operated thereby, thecombination being and operating substantially as set forth.

J. H. M. W'ALDOR'P.

Vitnesses:

G. S. T. Scnmxrmm, J. Dnnoxmo. j

